Ready For Some Zither?

I think there are a few people out there who actually look forward to this post every year. And I don't think I've skipped it a single year since it's debut here in 2005, it's just that good. Whether you know what a zither is or not, I'm sure you'll enjoy Ruth Welcome-Christmas In Zitherland (Capitol ST 1782, Stereo, 1962). In previous years, when I shared this out I put a little 'c.' by the year because I wasn't sure when this was released. Well, this year, I've been using old copies of Billboard available for searching at Google, and I was able to verify that this was indeed released for the Christmas season in 1962.

1. It Came Upon The Midnight Clear/Lo, How A Rose Is Blooming/Angels And Shepherds
2. O Little Town Of Bethlehem/What Child Is This?/O Come Little Children/Away In A Manger
3. O Holy Night/Coventry Carol/Angels From The Realms Of Glory/Silent Night
4. Jingle Bells/Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer
5. I'll Be Home For Christmas
6. Silver Bells
7. The Christmas Song
8. Winter Wonderland
9. White Christmas

The King In Stereo

Here's a rip that I've had laying around for a while, but never shared out. Not sure why. I probably didn't want to step on the toes of The King Of Jingaling by posting a stereo version of a popular share of his. But that was posted a long time ago, and I think it's been long enough. This is a really great LP filled with really great songs. There's some stuff on here that you've never heard before and there are some great versions of Christmas standards. Please get busy and download Wayne King And His Orchestra With The Wayne Robinson Singers-Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas (Decca DL 74438, Stereo, 1963).

1. I’ll Be Home For Christmas
2. The Christmas Waltz
3. Winter Wonderland
4. Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!
5. Jing-A-Ling-A-Ling
6. White Christmas
7. Carol Of The Bells
8. The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas To You)
9. Snowbound
10. Silver Bells
11. Christmas In Killarney
12. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

PS-Think you've seen this cover before? You may have. It's been used elsewhere.

Lovin' That Lanin

Are you tired of all the Sammy Kaye yet? I thought so. Here's a bandleader and orchestra that will get that swinging and swaying out of your system and leave you jumping at the woodside. No, I don't know what that's supposed to mean either, but I suspect it means you'll like this LP. I first shared this out in 2006, but I dug up and shared this stereo copy in 2008. I get some pretty rave reviews each and every time I throw it up here, so I expect plenty of comments this year as well. Please go now and download Lester Lanin And His Orchestra-Christmas Dance Party (Epic BN 547, Stereo, 1959).

1. Jingle Bells
2. White Christmas; I'll Be Home For Christmas; Home For The Holidays; Happy Holiday
3. Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairies
4. Here Comes Santa Claus; Frosty The Snowman
5. Silver Bells; Oh, Christmas Tree (O Tannenbaum); We Wish You A Merry Christmas
6. Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer
7. Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town
8. Deck The Halls With Boughs Of Holly; The Wassail Song; Good King Wenceslas
9. Christmas Night In Harlem
10. The Christmas Song; I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day; Christmas In Killarney
11. Winter Wonderland
12. Sleigh Ride
13. Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!; Auld Lang Syne; A Hot Time In The Old Time Tonight

Sammy Kaye Half Day-Part Four

I brought you all of my LP releases by Sammy Kaye already today, and all I've got left is a couple of tracks from this RCA release. These predate all the others, but they're still songs you've heard before. You can read more about them on my original post from 2006. Or you can skip any explanation at all and download just the two Christmas tracks from Year 'Round Favorites With Sammy Kaye And His Orchestra (RCA Victor WP 184, 3x7", Mono, 1949).

5. White Christmas
6. Winter Wonderland

Sammy Kaye Half Day-Part Three

From 1957, we move our Sammy Kaye celebration ahead three years to 1960, a whole other record label, and the wonderful world of stereo! Don't worry, it still swings and sways, and they still have the habit of telling you who's singing each song. That gets old real quick, let me tell you. Great album cover this time, though. Very home-y. Let's see, I first brought you this back in 2006, so it's certainly due for a re-share. Please be my guest and download Sammy Kaye And His Orchestra-Christmas Day With Sammy Kaye (Decca DL 74070, Stereo, 1960).

1. White Christmas
2. 'Twas The Night Before Christmas
3. Christmas Child (Loo, Loo, Loo)
4. Medley: The First Nowell-It Came Upon The Midnight Clear
5. Medley: O Little Town Of Bethlehem-O Come All Ye Faithful
6. Silent Night
7. It's Beginning To Look Like Christmas
8. Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer
9. Silver Bells
10. Sleigh Ride
11. Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!
12. (Joyeux Noel, Buona Natale, Feliz Navidad) A Merry Christmas (To You)

Sammy Kaye Half Day-Part Two

Look! It's a new share! Something you've never seen here at Ernie (Not Bert) before! I know you thought it would never happen, but here it is! This has been shared elsewhere though, so don't get too excited about it. I know I was excited when I flipped to it in a big stack of records. This is probably not the most exciting Christmas record to be released in 1957. Keep in mind that's the same year that Elvis released his monumental Elvis' Christmas Album. And there's something about Sammy's swinging and swaying that makes it sound more like 1947 than 1957, but there's still plenty to enjoy here. You might even get a kick out of those wacky Kaydets! Please download Sammy Kaye And His Orchestra-I Want To Wish You A Merry Christmas (Columbia CL 1035, Mono, 1957). Note that many of these titles overlap the previous share, and they are on the same label, but I believe these are new recordings from Mr. Kaye and friends. Hi-Fi and all.

1. I Want To Wish You A Merry Christmas
2. Winter Wonderland
3. Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer
4. Santa, Santa, Santa Claus
5. Frosty, The Snowman
6. Jingle Bells
7. Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town
8. All Around The Christmas Tree
9. The Christmas Song
10. White Christmas
11. Silent Night, Holy Night; O Little Town Of Bethlehem
12. Joy To The World; Hark! The Herald Angels Sing; O Come, All Ye Faithful
13. I Want To Wish You A Merry Christmas

Sammy Kaye Half Day-Part One

Only half a day? Yeah, well, I don't have quite as much Sammy Kaye as I do Three Suns, so he only rates half a day here at the blog. We start all the way back in 1951 with this box set of 4 seven inch records. This set was patterned after Kaye's popular Sunday Serenade shows, so if it sounds a little like a radio show, that's why. I first shared this in 2006, but you can download it now if you like. This is Sammy Kaye-Christmas Serenade (Columbia B-285, 4-7", Mono, 1951).

1. Silent Night, Holy Night
2. O Little Town Of Bethlehem
3. White Christmas
4. Winter Wonderland
5. Frosty The Snowman
6. Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town
7. Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer
8. Jingle Bells
9. Joy To The World
10. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
11. O Come All Ye Faithful

Christmas In Spain

I was just thinking about last year at the blog. I got a nasty virus on my PC right at the beginning of the sharity season, and it caused me to get off to a pretty slow start. I kept running into issues the entire rest of the month, and it really put a damper on my holiday. But this year has been going quite well, except for the lack of new shares thanks to a computer hard drive failure last month. But at least nobody died. None of that really matters, except that I wanted to bring you a re-run of something I first posted early last year, and was one of my favorite discoveries last year. Unfortunately, no one agreed with me, as very few people downloaded it. Don't make the same mistake this year, this is great stuff. Go now and download The Madrid Concert Orchestra And Chorus-Victorino Echevarria, Arranger-Conductor-Christmas In Spain (United Artists UAS 6059, Stereo, 1959).

1. Zumba Zum
2. Long Live St Joseph And The Child (Viva San Jose Y El Nino)
3. Sleep Little Jesus (Dorm Jesuset)
4. Where Are You Going Little Shepherd? (Adonde Vas, Pastorcito?)
5. Tan-Tan
6. Sing Little Ones (Chicetes, Cantem)
7. And There Is A Star (Y Es Una Estrella)
8. To Bethlehem (A Betlem, Si Us Plau)
9. Between The Straw And The Ice (Entre La Paja Y El Hielo)
10. From Egypt To Bethlehem (De Egipto Para Belene)
11. The Child Came Down From Heaven (El Nino Bajo Del Cielo)
12. Lotan-Dago
13. The Tambourines Are Playing (Suenen Las Panderetas)
14. Bolo, Bolo, Bolo

Week In Review-2

Another week down, three more to go. I think I'm holding up pretty well. I know I'm not sharing enough new stuff to hold your interest, but you understand that it's beyond my control. I've got some more stuff coming up, so just keep checking back once in a while. Next year will be better, I promise. Now, let me get started on the ginormous list of things I've shared out this week. Well, reshared mostly, but you get the idea.

The Three Suns-Three Random Tracks
The Three Suns-Uncle Mistletoe/Sleigh Ride
The Three Suns-Raggin' The Scales
The Three Suns Present Your Christmas Favorites
The Absolute Best Tracks From Ernie (Not Bert)'s Christmas In July 2007 Edition
The Three Suns-Three Suns Christmas Party (Remaster)
The Three Suns-The Sound(s) Of Christmas
The Three Suns-A Ding Dong Dandy Christmas!
Cyril Stapleton-Children's Christmas Album
Santa's Toy Shop Party
Simon Says-Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer
25 Days Of Christmas
Burgess Meredith & Joe Reisman-Christmas Classics 1963
Yank Lawson & Bob Haggart-Hark The Herald Angels Swing
Johnny Nash-Prince Of Peace
Jimmie Davis-It's Christmas Time Again
Larry Ferrari-I Wish You The Merriest
Pete Fountain-Candy Clarinet
Christmas With The Don Les Harmonicats
The Fantastic Strings Of Felix Slatkin-Season's Greetings
Henri Rene-Home For Christmas
Paul Mauriat-The Christmas Album
Raymond LeFevre-Merry Christmas
Muzak Christmas
Muzak-Stimulus Progression Number Three-Christmas
George Chiainia-Music Of The Holiday Season
Bianco-Joy To The World
Veo Gray-A Christmas Happening
Tijuana Voices With Brass Sing Merry Christmas
Season's Greetings From Turkey (New!)
Johnny Mathis-The Little Drummer Boy/Have Reindeer, Will Travel (Remastered)
The Eric Silver Chorale-Deck The Halls With Boughs Of Holly
Fontanna-Christmas At Home
The Henry Snow Singers-The Little Drummer Boy
The King Karoleers & Bob Kames-16 Traditional Christmas Carols (New!)
Bob Kames-Merry Christmas
Bob Kames-Happy Holidays
Bob Kames-It's Christmas Time
Bob Kames-15 Songs Of Christmas
Fred Waring-Nutcracker Suite
Fred Waring-Christmas Time
Fred Waring-'Twas The Night Before Christmas
Christmas With Ogden Nash
The Jack Halloran Singers-The Little Drummer Boy
The Pete King Chorale-Christmas Time
Saint Patrick's Cathedral Choir Sings Christmas Carols/Sings Christmas Songs

Week 1:

Spencer Ross-Thanksgiving Day Parade
Squanto And The First Thanksgiving
Two Thanksgiving Songs (New!!!)
Maurice Copeland-How We Got Our Christmas Customs
Jose Melis-Christmas With Melis
Christmas Carols By The Lighthouse Singers
George Wright-Christmas Time
A Merry Christmas To You From David Rose And His Orchestra
Christmas 1968 With The Going Thing
The Joy Strings-Well Seasoned
Charo-(Mamacita) ¿Donde Esta Santa Claus?
Les Djinnes Singers-60 French Girls With The Christmas Bell Ringers-Joyeaux Noel
Dorothy Collins-Season's Greetings In Song
Slim Boyd-Christmas Country Style
Dartmouth Glee Club-White Christmas On The Campus (Remastered!!!)
Richard Ellsasser-Michael Carr's Wintertime Suite
Billy Crystal-The Christmas Song
John Davidson-My Christmas Favorites
Lynn Anderson-The Christmas Album
The Best Of Christmas In July 2006 From Ernie (Not Bert)
Merry Christmas From Buck Owens & Susan Raye
James Blackwood And The Blackwood Brothers Combine With Hovie Lister And The Statesmen To Wish You A Musical Merry Christmas

Seems to take longer and longer each week to type up that list. Hope you're having a great holiday. See you soon!

Three Sunsday, Part Seven

OK, so what do I have left of Christmas by The Three Suns that I haven't shared yet today? Well, there's a great track called Silver Skates on the LP shown above, which I shared here. And there was Waltz Of The Flowers that I found just this year and shared back during Christmas In July. Oh, Busy Holiday, also shared during Christmas in July, but this was Christmas in July 2006. Is that it, just three tracks? I can't think of any more. Well, I guess that's going to have to do it then. And as my little gift to you, here's all three tracks in a single download so you don't have to waste all that time and effort on RapidShare. (I know RapidShare has been a big pain in the backside for many of you this year. Anyone want to lend me 50G of server space and nearly unlimited bandwidth? Anyone???)

I hope you've enjoyed today's tribute to the greatest Christmas band ever! I've got a 78 somewhere with what I hope is going to prove to be another Christmas related track from these guys, but after that, I got nothing. But I'm going to keep searching. Consider it a quest!

Three Sunsday, Part Six

Here's another single from out friends, The Three Suns, that is all Christmas. The scan you're looking at it a bootleg copy, apparently, of an RCA single from 1951. I've never been able to find an original, but someone was kind enough to share a copy of it with us one year. Same music is on this record as is on that one, though. The Uncle Mistletoe side features vocals by Texas Jim Robertson, while the Sleigh Ride side is all instrumental. Oh, the Sleigh Ride side is a reissue of track from a 1950 single... It just gets worse and worse, doesn't it. So please be my guest and download The Three Suns-Uncle Mistletoe/Sleigh Ride (Do You Remember #344, originally 1951). That part was simple enough, now wasn't it?

1. Uncle Mistletoe
2. Sleigh Ride

Three Sunsday, Part Five

I'm done with all the Three Suns Christmas albums, but that doesn't mean I don't have any more Christmas songs to share with you. The first comes from this EP featuring four tracks, only one of which is Christmas. I went ahead and ripped the whole thing (in 2006) for all the Three Suns lovers out there, but you Christmas lover will only want Parade Of The Wooden Soldiers. So go download Raggin' The Scales With The Three Suns (RCA Victor 7" 45 rpm EPA 278, Mono).

1. Ragging The Scale
2. Goofus
3. Josephine
4. Parade Of The Wooden Soldiers

Three Sunsday, Part Four

This is The Three Suns first full-length Christmas release, if you want to count six songs as being full length. Prior to this, everything they'd released was at most both sides of a single record, or often a single side of a record. So this is their first long-form Christmas record. I first shared this out in 2005, and I can remember the excitement of finding it at the record store, bringing it home, recording it as I played it for the first time and then sharing it with all of you. Little did I realize what an obsession it was going to become. Please grab The Three Suns Present Your Christmas Favorites (RCA Victor 3x7" 45 RPM WP 250, Mono, 1949).

1. Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town
2. Adeste Fideles (O Come, All Ye Faithful)
3. White Christmas
4. Winter Wonderland
5. Silent Night
6. Jingle Bells

I found a slightly different version of this today at the same record store I got the original from way back then. This version only has four of the six tracks, and they're crammed onto a single 7". I guess they saved some money this way. You can see a scan of that sleeve below.

Look close at either one of these sleeves, and you'll see the name of the artist who designed them. It says Bill English, but I can't find any information attached to that name. Well, it appears that the actor who portrays the Geico caveman is named Bill English, but I doubt if that's the same guy...

Update: PDMan asked about the flipside of these releases. The box set I shared some years ago had no text, either on the back of the box or inside the cover. The 7" abridged version, however, did have some stuff on the back, so I scanned it and posted it above. Nothing too exciting, I'm afraid, and there's a price sticker obscuring some of the title. And in case you can't make it out, the original price was only 50 cents. Bargain!

The Best, 2007 Style

Please excuse my interruption of Three Sunsday with this collection from some years ago. I'm trying to throw these up at Noon every Sunday (which includes Sunsday) and it's about that time. As I explained last week, Christmas in July is a tradition here at Ernie (Not Bert) that consists of me finding Christmas music on non-holiday records and sharing out those tracks. The collection you're looking at above is a selection of what I felt were the best of those tracks during the 2007 season. There's a little bit of everything in here, so I'm sure you'll find many songs to enjoy. If you click on the title and artist of any track, it should take you to the day when I first shared out that song (and often three or five more), and there might even be a little info about it. Please hurry up and download The Absolute Best Tracks From Ernie (Not Bert)'s Christmas In July 2007 Edition (Ernie(Not Bert), 2007).

1. Nickelodeon-Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
2. Ashtabula High School A Cappella Choir-Carol Of The Bells
3. Joanne Wheatley & Hal Kanner-Baby, It's Cold Outside
4. IBM 7090 Computer-Joy To The World
5. Ron Goodwin-Xmas It Ain't
6. Fred Sateriale's Big Band-Toyland Cha Cha Cha
7. Hugo Winterhalter-Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer Cha Cha
8. Earl Grant-Snowfall
9. Ferrante & Teicher-Happy Sleigh Ride
10. Bing Crosby-The Secret Of Christmas
11. Count Basie & The Mills Brothers-December
12. Connee Boswell-White Christmas
13. Andre Previn & David Rose-Blue Holiday
14. Waldorf "Punch & Judy" Orchestra-Parade Of The Wooden Soldiers
15. University Singers-Go Where I Send Thee
16. Sunshine-The Very First Christmas Day
17. Stan Wolowic-Happy Holiday
18. Sarah Vaughn & Billy Eckstine-I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm
19. Al Melgard-Jolly Coppersmith
20. Alfred Apaka-It's Snowing In Hawaii
21. Lawrence Welk-Holiday
22. The Klokken Ringers-Silver Bells
23. Ray Conniff-An Improvisation On "Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairy"
24. The Robert de Cormier Folk Singers-The Virgin Mary Had A Baby Boy
25. The 'Promises, Promises' Cast-Christmas Day
26. Glenn Miller-It Happened In Sun Valley
27. Martin Denny-Snowflakes In Summer
28. Ruby Murray-Christmastime In Ireland
29. The Robin Hood Orchestra-Silent Night
30. John Gary-Let There Be Peace On Earth (Let It Begin With Me)
31. Gordon Jenkins-Happy New Year

Three Sunsday, Part Three

Here we go with part three of Three Sunsday, and since three seems to be the magic number today, I've got something special for you. For some years now, I've shared this, The Three Suns' second Christmas LP, with you as ripped from my 10" vinyl. This year, I listened to my 2x7" copy and decided it sounded much better, so I recorded that and am sharing it with you. I think you'll enjoy this remastered version quite a bit. Eight songs is a short album, but it's good. Four sacred hymns and four secular songs make for a nicely balanced collection. And for those of you who might be wondering, none of the albums and singles I'm sharing today have any overlap. Well, some of them may have the same songs, but they are all different versions. So please be my guest and get this new version of The Three Suns-Three Suns Christmas Party (RCA Victor EPB 3056 2x7" 45 RPM, Mono, 1952).

1. Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer
2. Here Comes Santa Claus
3. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
4. O, Holy Night
5. O, Little Town Of Bethlehem
6. The First Noel
7. Merry Christmas Polka
8. Frosty The Snow Man

Three Sunsday, Part Two

Moving backwards in time four years, this is more from The Three Suns. This is also the most re-issued Three Suns record. I'm going to show you four different covers for the 12" LP and two different covers for two different 7" EPs that drew tracks from this album. This would also be the album from which the occasional CD track is drawn, though it's never been fully reissued in the CD age to my knowledge. Before I start to carry on and on about all these different covers, why don't you go ahead and download The Three Suns-The Sounds Of Christmas (RCA Victor LPM-1132, 1955, Mono). You'll be very happy that you did.

1. Adeste Fideles
2. The First Noel
3. Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer
4. Oh Holy Night
5. The Monastery Bells
6. Greensleeves
7. Winter Wonderland
8. Deck The Halls With Boughs Of Holly
9. White Christmas
10. Joy To The World
11. Jingle Bells
12. Oh Little Town Of Bethlehem
13. Carol Of The Birds
14. God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen
15. Silent Night
16. Der Tannenbaum (Christmas Tree)
17. Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town
18. It Came Upon A Midnight Clear
19. Carol Of The Bells
20. Hark The Herald Angels Sing

OK, now about these covers. The one you see above, the one that always reminds me of something Grandma Moses might have painted is the most common version, and I believe it's the original.

Next up was this cover showing Rockefeller Center during the holidays, always a popular area for album cover pictures.

This is the cover they switched to when the LP was reissued on the Camden budget subsidiary of RCA Victor. Note that they also changed the name slightly. It's now The Sound Of Christmas instead of The Sounds Of Christmas.

Sometime later on, RCA licensed the tracks to sub-budget label Pickwick and they released the LP again under the Sound title with yet another cover. This one is one that has been rumored a few times around here, but I'd never gotten one until this year, so this is the first time I have this cover to share with you. Nothing special, really. There's some text on this one that leads me to believe it may have been released in Canada, or maybe it was just labeled so it could be sold in both the US and Canada. I'm not sure...

Last but not least, we have these two great great EP covers. I hate to say it, but these may be may favorite versions of all. These both came out at the same time as the regular LP, but it was common for the EP versions of LPs to have different, or at least slightly different, covers.

If you aren't confused enough just yet, it turns out there's a third EP from this LP, and that one actually uses the artwork from the LP. I've never seen a copy myself, but you can check it out over at A Christmas Yuleblog.

Three Sunsday, Part One

Those of you who've been frequenting my blog for a number of years know that my favorite Christmas artist of all times is The Three Suns. So it brings me great pleasure again this year to bring you their nearly complete Christmas collection, only a small portion of which has ever made it to CD. Today's tribute is going to go in reverse, so I'm starting with their very last Christmas release, and the one that many would call their best. I'll say this about it, it's so very, very good. And in stereo, too! That was a new addition last year, prior to that I'd only had a mono copy. You see this one shared out all over the web, and some of those are probably better rips than mine, so if you see it elsewhere, you might want to grab it. Someday I'll stumbled across a mint copy and then I'll have to remaster it. But for now, I encourage you to jump into Three Sunsday with both feet and download The Three Suns-A Ding Dong Dandy Christmas! (RCA Victor LSP-2054, Stereo, 1959).

1. Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town
2. Skaters Waltz
3. The Chipmunk Song
4. White Christmas
5. Ding Dong Dandy Christmas
6. The Christmas Song
7. Russian Sleigh Song
8. Jingle Bells
9. Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!
10. Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer
11. Jingle Bell Rock
12. Sleigh Ride
13. I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
14. Winter Wonderland

The Best Kiddie Christmas

The last two records I shared with you today were records designed for the kiddies, and so is this one, but they are world's apart. This one is actually a quality recording, and the less said about those other two, the better. I first shared this record in 2005, mostly because it featured such a great cover. Turns out the music wasn't so bad, either. Do me a favor and give this one a listen. Here's Cyril Stapleton And His Orchestra With Children's Chorus-Children's Christmas Album (Richmond S 30057, Stereo, 1959).

1. Christmas Alphabet
2. I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
3. Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer
4. Christmas Island
5. White Christmas
6. I Saw Three Ships
7. Once In Royal David's City
8. Greensleeves
9. The Holly And The Ivy
10. Silent Night

Another Bad Apostrophe

Here's another record with a horrible apostrophe error. Unless there is more than one Santa (and everyone knows there is only one Santa, all the rest are his helpers), then this should read Santa's Toy Shop Party. I guess you don't care about such things, but they bother me. This was my penultimate share last year, and didn't see a lot of downloads because of that. Eveyone was too busy finishing up their holiday shopping, enjoying family and friends and taking it easy to pay attention to the Christmas downloads. So don't miss it this year. Please download Santas' Toy Shop Party (Panda Children's Records PAN X001, Mono).

1. Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer
2. Jingle Bells
3. Up On The House Tops
4. 'Twas The Night Before Christmas
5. Santa's Surprise
6. Toy Town
7. Alakazam, The Magic Man
8. Wooden Soldiers On Parade
9. I Want A Teddy Bear

Simon Says

I think this was the very last record I shared with you last year, so there's a good chance you missed it. I shared it out a couple of days before Christmas, then took the rest of the time off. I hadn't planned to do that, but I just ran out of time and steam to do all the things I'd wanted to do. Here's hoping that doesn't happen this year. Please be a dear and download Simon Says-Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer And Other Christmas Favorites (Record Guild Of America SSX-1, Mono).

1. Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer
2. Angels We Have Heard On High
3. I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day
4. The Night Before Christmas
5. Jingle Bells
6. Deck The Halls With Boughs Of Holly
7. We Are Not Beggars
8. Joy To The World
9. The First Noel
10. Hark The Herald Angels Sing
11. O Little Town Of Bethlehem
12. It Came Upon A Midnight Clear
13. O Come All Ye Faithful
14. Silent Night

25 Days

Back in 2006, I made my first compilation of Christmas tracks during the Christmas sharity season. Each day I gave you a cool new track, sometimes from a single, sometimes from a Christmas record, sometimes from some random record that just featured a Christmas track. If you haven't heard it, I think you're really missing out. There are some Christmas gems in there. Why don't you go download 25 Days Of Christmas (Ernie Not Bert, 2006) right now. You can read a little bit about each track and where it came from if you click on the names below.

Tennessee Ernie Ford-Christmas Dinner
Harry Kari-Oh! Oh! Don't Ever Go
Dorothy Collins-Mister Santa
Connie Canuso-Somebody Painted Rudolph's Nose A Chocolate Brown
Sandy Offenheim-If Snowflakes Fell In Flavours
Up With People-Jingle Bell Beat
The Ames Brothers-Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town
Jimmy Boyd-Santa Got Stuck In The Chimney
Lou Monte-Italian Jingle Bells
Les Paul-Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
The Harmonicats-Winter Wonderland
Steve Allen and Ricky Vera-Can I Wait Up For Santa Claus?
Ricardo Montalban & Randy Newman-La Campanilla
Ralph Carmichael-The New Hallelujah
Lawrence Welk With The Lennon Sisters-Santa From Santa Fe
Billy May-March Of The Toys
The Davis Sisters-The Christmas Boogie
Anna Russell-Please Santa Claus
Kathy Dunn-Santaville
The Williams Brothers-The Holiday Season
The Ed Sullivan Orchestra-I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
The Banjo Barons-Jolly Old St. Nick & Jingle Bells
Johnny Brandon-Santa Claus, Jr.
Johnny Mathis-Have Reindeer, Will Travel
The Crew-Cuts-Twinkle Toes

I guess I should mention the tracks are listed in reverse order above. Maybe I should get around to numbering them someday...

Late December Back In '63

I know, I know, it's not late December. It's still early, thank goodness, but that's not how the song goes, and I didn't want to wait to get this share from 2006 back on your radar. This is one of a series of Christmas records put out by E.F MacDonald during the sixties. I don't have them all, but I wish I did. This particular one features some recitations by Burgess Meredith and music by Joe Reisman. Trust me when I say it's good stuff. But you don't have to trust me, just download it and see for yourself. Here is The E.F. MacDonald Company Presents Christmas Classics 1963 (E.F. MacDonald EFMX-63, Stereo, 1963).

1. A Visit From St. Nicholas-Burgess Meredith With Joe Reisman's Orchestra & Chorus
2. Is There A Santa Claus?-Burgess Meredith With Joe Reisman's Orchestra & Chorus
3. The Little Match Girl-Burgess Meredith With Joe Reisman's Orchestra & Chorus
4. O Tannenbaum (O Christmas Tree)-Joe Reisman's Orchestra & Chorus
5. Les Agnes Dans Nos Campagnes (Angels We Have Heard On High)-Joe Reisman's Orchestra & Chorus
6. Dormi, Dormi, O Bel Bambin (Sleep, Sleep, Sweet Babe Of Mine)-Joe Reisman's Orchestra & Chorus
7. Fum, Fum, Fum (Foom, Foom, Foom)-Joe Reisman's Orchestra & Chorus
8. Twelve Days Of Christmas-Joe Reisman's Orchestra & Chorus

The Herald Angels Swing

Do you need a little bit of Christmas swing in your stocking? Then download this great LP from the self-proclaimed world's greatest jazz band. Says so right in their name. This one dates all the way back to my inaugural year of Christmas sharity, 2005, and it's got a special place here at the blog. If you have gone the last five years without this one, I think it's high time you download The World's Greatest Jazzband Of Yank Lawson & Bob Haggart-Hark The Herald Angels Swing (World Jazz WJLP 5-2, Stereo, 1972).

1. Hark The Herald Angels Swing
2. Little Drummer Boy
3. Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer
4. Silent Night
5. Joy To The World
6. Jingle Bells
7. White Christmas
8. I'll Be Home For Christmas
9. The Christmas Song
10. Winter Wonderland
11. Deck The Halls

Missed My Chance

I should have thrown this up on the same day I shared out my Ogden Nash Christmas record and claimed they were brothers. I'll have to remember that for next year. Anyhow, this is a great record I stumbled across last year (and shared with you) by an artist that I had no idea had ever recorded any Christmas music. When you listen to as much Christmas music as I do, that doesn't happen too often. So if you're wondering what this could sound like, why don't you download Johnny Nash-Prince Of Peace (JAD JS/1001, Stereo, 1969)?

1. We Wish You A Merry Christmas
2. Prince Of Peace
3. Away In A Manger
4. Mary's Little Boy Child
5. The Borning Day
6. The Christmas Song
7. Sweet Little Jesus Boy
8. Medley: Silent Night-Oh Holy Night
9. Go Tell It On The Mountain

Mr. Governor

Here's something you don't see every day, an album of Christmas music by a former governor of Louisiana. And this isn't this only Christmas record! But it's the only one I have, so now you can have it too. If you want to know more about this, you can read what I read last year, but if all you want to do is listen to it, please download Jimmie Davis-It's Christmas Time Again (Decca DL 4587, Mono, 1964).

1. It's Christmas Time Again
2. Silent Night
3. Beautiful Star Of Bethlehem
4. It Came Upon The Midnight Clear
5. Christmas Message
6. No Room At The Inn
7. Go Tell It On The Mountain
8. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
9. Away In A Manger
10. A Child Was Born
11. Joy To The World
12. Gently Rock His Cradle

Success Story, Volume 2

This is another LP that I used to share with great pride here at the blog, at least I did so before someone realized what a hidden treasure they had in their back-catalogue and re-released it. You can now download this gem of an album from Amazon and I think it's well worth the cost. And the one you get from Amazon is in stereo, which I never managed to find. My share from 2005 was in mono.

Also Rans

Lincoln wasn't the only contender for a calendar picture this year, but he was always the front-runner. Other possibilities included the view looking East from the Lincoln Memorial across the Reflecting Pool towards the Washington Monument. This picture didn't have enough interest in it to be a serious contender.

Another choice was the Tomb Of The Unknown Soldier at Arlington. I could never get this picture formatted the way I wanted it. The top edge of the picture cuts off a panoramic view of DC that was lit by the setting sun, but I couldn't show it without cutting off the honor guard at the bottom. Plus I would have had to PhotoShop out that guys head...

This was a great shot, but there's not a whole lot going on anywhere except the exact center. This view of the Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Monument and The Capitol Dome was taken from near the Iwo Jima Memorial on the other side of the Potomac.

I really wanted to use this shot of the ring of flags at the base of the Washington Monument, but would you know that's what it was? I knew, having stood there and taken the picture, but without seeing the whole monument, you really can't tell what it is.

So that's four of the other pictures we considered. There were more, but these were the top candidates. Hope you enjoyed this little sneak peak behind the scenes.

The 2010 Calendar

After what seems like an eternity, the 2010 wall calendars arrived yesterday. Well, one of them did. And my picture of Abraham Lincoln as he appears in the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC is front and center. The final picture is the one shown above. I took this on my second trip to Washington, DC, this year, late at night in the dark. I think it's a pretty powerful picture, and including the quote from his Gettysburg Address makes it more so.

We tried a few different background behind Lincoln, including this one, hoping to bring a little color into the image. But we wound up using the picture in pure black and white, even removing the little bit of wall you could see behind the statue.


My original submission for a Lincoln calendar was this wide shot of the entire memorial, but we felt it wasn't as powerful as a shot of the statue alone. Now that I have a new camera, I want to go back to DC and take all of these pictures over again...

Those of you who are new around here may want to look at the calendar picture from last year while you're here...